tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13090306.post5523540013785463158..comments2023-10-02T06:13:32.418-05:00Comments on Moline Democratic Maverick: Republicans debate immigration reformDave Barretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04289405215433867162noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13090306.post-9049544992807326122007-09-01T17:40:00.000-05:002007-09-01T17:40:00.000-05:00matt, Yes, we often seem to talk past each other....matt,<BR/> Yes, we often seem to talk past each other. I agree to disagree.Dave Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04289405215433867162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13090306.post-46757129989963293252007-09-01T16:39:00.000-05:002007-09-01T16:39:00.000-05:00I think you are misinterpreting my position, and I...I think you are misinterpreting my position, and I may be misinterpreting yours.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps we should agree to disagree on whether it is "mean" to support immigration reform for economic reasons.matt moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08026889760627920680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13090306.post-9275813095066087622007-09-01T15:24:00.000-05:002007-09-01T15:24:00.000-05:00matt, Yeah, that's exactly the attitude I am talk...matt,<BR/> Yeah, that's exactly the attitude I am talking about. <BR/> Quaker merchants in Philadelphia in the 18th Century were the first to display set prices in their stores. Up to then every price was determined by haggling as is still done many places in the world. The Quaker merchants decided that they should set a fair price for their products or services and always sell at that price. Charging some buyers more than others simply because those buyers were poor bargainers or in a disadvantageous bargaining position would be taking advantage of them in an immoral way. Because buyers liked set prices these merchants ended up doing very well and making more money than before, which was somewhat embarrassing to them. <BR/> Despite what you may have been led to believe, nothing requires people to behave in a totally self-interested manner when they are engaged in business.Dave Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04289405215433867162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13090306.post-45593565455920269892007-09-01T15:07:00.000-05:002007-09-01T15:07:00.000-05:00"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, th..."It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages." --Adam Smithmatt moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08026889760627920680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13090306.post-84447579557832526622007-09-01T09:31:00.000-05:002007-09-01T09:31:00.000-05:00matt, I agree with you that the most recently con...matt,<BR/> I agree with you that the most recently considered immigration reform bill was flawed because it institutionalized second-class citizen status for immigrant labor but was better than not passing anything. <BR/> It is possible to do business without being mean but not if your overriding goal is making as much profit as possible, rather than, say, determining a fair price for your product and services and always selling it for that. Unfortunately amoral people seem to have convinced most Americans that mindlessly pursuing maximum advantage for yourself without considering anything else is the only possible way of conducting business.Dave Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04289405215433867162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13090306.post-80723205784330447002007-09-01T08:55:00.000-05:002007-09-01T08:55:00.000-05:00I'm not sure why it's mean to support immigration ...I'm not sure why it's mean to support immigration reform because it's "necessary for business". Lots of good decisions are made from a profit motive. One of the principles of capitalism is that an aggregate of self-interested actions benefits the entire society.<BR/><BR/>Personally I wasn't a big fan of the latest round of immigration reform because it appeared to institutionalize the second-class nature of the immigrant work force. I'd much rather see a bill that dissolves the INS and replaces it with voluntary registration with the state department.<BR/><BR/>However, my views on this are a little outside the mainstream, especially since the xenophobes seem to have gained influence after 9/11. The immigration reform bill was probably the best we could have hoped for.matt moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08026889760627920680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13090306.post-960617879810365112007-08-31T11:19:00.000-05:002007-08-31T11:19:00.000-05:00aslinn, So the business interests that support im...aslinn,<BR/> So the business interests that support immigration reform are, in your view, NOT doing it so they can make more money, but doing it to destroy the country?!? So all those Chamber of Commerce types actually hate and want to destroy America? If so, we are in real trouble then, because I think those guys are actually running things.Dave Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04289405215433867162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13090306.post-50049422521581157652007-08-31T10:48:00.000-05:002007-08-31T10:48:00.000-05:00Rick Perry is another political fraud that has bet...Rick Perry is another political fraud that has betrayed his country and sold his soul to either LA RAZA (THE RACE) and the corrupt Mexican government or to obscene corporate businesses that wish to destroy the United States from within.<BR/><BR/>Wake up America, our congress is financing LA RAZA and their like w/ millions of our dollars. [Quote] Professor Jose Gutierrez - President of La Raza U. party and recipient of National Council of LaRaza's Chicano Hero Award. <BR/><BR/>"We have an aging white American...<BR/>They are dying....<BR/>They are ******* in their pants with fear!!!<BR/>I love it!!"<BR/><BR/>"We're a new Mestizo nation." <BR/>"We have got to eliminate the gringo and what I mean by that, <BR/>is that if the worst comes to worst, we have to kill him." <BR/><BR/>"OUR DEVIL HAS PALE SKIN AND BLUE EYES."aslinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10959136702347511980noreply@blogger.com